KEY POINTS:
Ever sneezed without putting your hand over your mouth?
How about wiping your runny nose on your sleeve?
Many New Zealanders regularly do, according to a survey.
In fact thousands of us regularly sneeze, cough and wipe noses in ways that liberally share germs with others.
The Colmar Brunton survey showed a quarter of New Zealand adults admitted to sometimes clearing mucus from their nose on to the ground, while 55 per cent admitted to sometimes sneezing into the air for others to breathe.
Clothing, fingers or wrists were sometimes used to wipe a runny nose by 34 per cent of people.
And 12 per cent of those who sometimes sneezed into their hands never washed them afterwards.
The survey also showed that despite the health benefits of keeping a child home from school when infected with a cold or flu virus,97 per cent of children sometime swent to school with a cold or the flu.
Such practices are not setting a good example for children, according to virologist Dr Lance Jennings.
He said colds and flus were debilitating, especially for children, and he was encouraging schools to join the annual Kleenex SneezeSafe initiative, teaching children to up-skill their sneezing techniques.
Dr Jennings said sneezes should be trapped with a tissue, in cupped hands or in the crook of the elbow.
Children should also keep at least one metre away from those sneezing, coughing, nose-blowing, speaking, laughing or singing.
The survey will be released today by Kleenex tissues, which is launching a new line of anti-viral tissues.
THE SURVEY SAID
* 13% of adults sometimes use their clothing to wipe a runny nose.
* 17% of women and 49 per cent of men aged between 18 and 35 sometimes blow their nose by covering one nostril and blowing the mucus onto the ground.
* 73% of men aged between 18 and 35 admit to sometimes sneezing into the air.
* 35% of women and 45 per cent of men aged between 18 and 35 sometimes use their fingers, wrists or clothing to wipe a runny nose.
